What Would You Say...You Do Here?

INT. PRESS ROOM AT ACRISURE STADIUM. AFTERNOON.

MIKE TOMLIN, dressed in Pittsburgh Steelers team apparel, stands behind a podium, his eyes darting across the room as he listens to the final question of his season-ending press conference.

TIM BENZ, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Is there any accuracy to the report that George Pickens was late on Christmas day to the game against the Chiefs?

TOMLIN, puzzled, stumbling for his words:

TOMLIN

That’s a few days back. I really don’t know that I have the answer to that to be quite honest with you. I got a lot going on in pre-game. I can’t answer that definitively. Thanks, guys.

Aaaaaaaaand, SCENE.

That was the money exchange from Tomlin’s season-ending press conference, the eighth-straight one in which he has tried to fashion explanations for a season that passed without a playoff victory. Much of the rest of it was boilerplate from a coach who has been here and done this many times before, lately always in early or mid-January, never later.

Tomlin’s opening remarks were a proactive attempt to head off any probing questions; he didn’t have all the answers, was too early in his post-mortem process, would be doing the questions short shrift if he tried to answer expansively, et cetera. He invited them just the same, suggesting that he understood their necessity, and offered to answer them to the best of his ability.

Nonsense, of course. All of it. The questions were more pointed than they have been in recent years, with reporters justifiably asking Tomlin why he felt he could still do this job at a high level after so many playoff failures, and he handled them without some of his usual defiance and hubris. Still, everyone in the room knew the drill. Tomlin wouldn’t answer anything he didn’t want to answer, using the freshness of defeat as cover, and by the time he speaks to the media again in a few months, the subject matter will be different.

That makes it even more impressive that the question about Pickens, based on Mike DeFabo’s report in the Athletic, hit like a punch to the liver, right at the bell. Typically a picture of preparation and collectedness in press conferences, Tomlin looked completely caught off-guard, and his attempts to sidestep were as weak and unconvincing as could be.

A few days back? You’re the head coach. The game was three weeks ago. You were being asked about whether or not your literal best offensive player was late for the game.

Don’t know that I have an answer to that to be quite honest with you? Come on. The “to be quite honest with you” is a classic Tomlin press-conference crutch, and typically it means, “Whatever I just told you was a lie.” Holds true in this case.

I got a lot going on in pre-game? Again, I think the whereabouts of your star receiver, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and whose availability for the game is a crucial factor, would probably be one of your top pre-game priorities.

I can’t answer that definitively? Sure you can. You’re just choosing not to. The report was accurate. The Steelers would have come out swinging if it wasn’t. That’s simple deductive logic.

That Pickens was late for the game was bad enough, but knowing that now makes what Tomlin said about his star receiver after that game even worse. You’ll recall that Pickens had a pedestrian 3 catches for 50 yards in the game, and his most notable play was one that saw him barely run a route while Russell Wilson threw an interception, with the intercepting player being one that Pickens was likely supposed to draw away from the middle of the field with his route.

CBS’ Nate Burleson, a former wide receiver himself, blamed Pickens immediately for the interception, as did all-time great Terrell Owens. Wilson said, “Yeah, you know, I think he was going to go vertical, but at the end of the day it can’t happen, it’s on me.” He was careful not to blame Pickens, but the beginning of his explanation said it all.

This was Ben Roethlisberger, on his Footbahlin podcast:

Basically you’re trying to in-and-out the safeties and corners and then trying to find the seams down the field. Issue number one is George Pickens didn’t run his route. That’s issue number one. Because if he doesn’t run his route, the safety has no threat now.

What did Tomlin say about Pickens’ role in the play, when asked point-blank about it?

George’s route running had zero to do with that interception. George was fine last weekend or last Wednesday.

The star player coming off an injury showed up late, so late in fact that the team had to submit its inactive list for the game before they knew his whereabouts, very possibly contributed to an interception by not running a route…and the head coach covered for him. Oh, and Pickens made sure to go up and congratulate Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce after the game while they were being interviewed on-camera. The timing was just a coincidence, I’m sure.

Normally, the head coach is the “bad guy” with any player whose behavior is hurting the team. That’s the only way the whole dynamic works. The head coach tears the player down or excoriates them publicly when warranted, and then the position coaches and coordinator build the player back up. When the guy at the top of the heap gives the player a pass, why would that player have any cause to listen to anyone else on the coaching staff, or change his behavior?

Tomlin gets plenty of credit from a largely fawning national media for the way he handles volatile personalities; he’s failed in that regard with Pickens, and even though the wide receiver has made him look toothless on multiple occasions, he does nothing to curb the behavior. No benching, no public tongue-lashing, nothing. He enables him to no end.

A good head coach has to have a calling card, be it calling plays at a high level, getting the most out of their players as a motivator, overseeing a team that conducts itself with discipline on and off the field, or acting like a good CEO and delegating responsibility, while handling the big, weighty decisions with aplomb.

This latest incident with Pickens, coupled with the Steelers losing five straight games to end their season, including a humiliating 28-14 loss to the Ravens that was nowhere near as close as the score indicated, has me asking a simple question about Tomlin:

What do you do here, Mike?

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He doesn’t consistently get the most out of his players, not anymore. The Steelers cratered over the final month of the season, then delivered their latest meek performance in the playoffs, falling down 21-0 at halftime to Baltimore. There was squabbling, particularly among defensive players, and plenty of miscommunication.

He doesn’t coach defense at a high level anymore, at least not against the league’s best offenses, despite Pittsburgh investing more on that side of the ball than any team in the league. The Ravens broke the Steelers’ will, running for 299 yards and 6.0 yards per carry. Derrick Henry averaged 7.2 on the way to 186 yards and two touchdowns.

He doesn’t make great in-game decisions; his challenges continue to be suspect, his punt-or-go choices are incredibly inconsistent, and his timeout usage and time management in general remains below average, if not outright poor.

His teams don’t start well when it matters; Baltimore led 7-0 after one quarter. Tomlin’s Steelers have now been outscored 73-0 in the first quarter of their last six playoff games.

He still hasn’t successfully developed a young quarterback, nor has he come close. This is far and away his biggest failing, and sometimes I get the sense that his ego blinds him, and he thinks he can win big without one. He can’t.

He can’t let his offensive coordinator do his job. Tomlin’s fingerprints, by his own admission, were all over the Steelers’ late-season offensive swoon. He clearly got spooked when Wilson started turning the ball over, and the Steelers went into a shell, and just tried to win with defense.

Tomlin is in no danger of being fired, of course. Art Rooney II cares far more about being seen as an owner who values coaching stability than as one who wants to win; that much is abundantly clear by now. I wonder if the coach, facing no professional danger, possesses the capacity for genuine introspection. He’ll talk a good game and I’m sure puts in long hours evaluating the team and its processes, but the proof is in the pudding. Despite several significant changes, his team remained what they have been for years now – a predictable, easy out in the playoffs. I’ve seen very little to suggest that he’s doing real soul-searching with regard to his methods.

What value is the head coach adding? The national media apologists – Chris Simms was the latest – try to act like he’s doing a good job with the roster he has, while conveniently ignoring that he has a massive hand in roster construction. They lament the fact that Tomlin doesn’t have a franchise quarterback, while again ignoring the fact that he plays a major role when it comes to that position as well.

He never has a losing record? Tremendous. Who cares? That’s more bad than good. Having a bad season got the Steelers Roethlisberger. It’s usually the only way to have access to a great quarterback prospect, save getting lucky on a later-round pick or mortgaging several picks to move up.

As long as Tomlin is committed to doing things his way, the Steelers will be stuck in NFL purgatory, needing a miracle to get out. At best an average team, with at best, an average coach.

I’ll ask it again.

What do you do here, Mike?